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Alphonso Davies is poised for his first Bayern Munich appearance in almost four months after getting the all-clear from doctors monitoring his heart.
The attacking left-back has not featured for Bayern since December 17, after first testing positive for COVID-19 and then being sidelined when checks revealed a mild heart inflammation.
Davies, newly named as the CONCACAF men’s player of the year, will be heading to the World Cup with Canada later this year after they qualified for the first time since the 1986 tournament.
On Wednesday, he should begin his comeback in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Spanish outfit Villarreal.
Bayern head coach Julian Nagelsmann confirmed that 21-year-old Davies had been given the green light to play by the medics dealing with his myocarditis.
“Phonzie will be in the squad, and the results of his medical mean that he has been cleared to start,” Nagelsmann told a news conference.
“We will make a decision over the course of the day. In general, I am leaning towards having him in the starting XI.”
News of Davies’ condition emerged in mid-January, by which stage the youngster had started 22 of Bayern’s 27 matches this season – only Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski had started more regularly, which is a reflection of his importance to the team.
He had made 16 appearances in the Bundesliga and at the time he led the way in the division for dribbles attempted (97) and completed (61).
Nagelsmann said he had settled on seven or eight of the players who would start against Villarreal, with winger Serge Gnabry possibly set to get the nod ahead of Leroy Sane.
However, Sane has an outstanding record in the competition this season, which may influence Nagelsmann’s choice. The former Manchester City man has been directly involved in 12 goals in eight games for Bayern in the Champions League this term (six goals, six assists).
Only Sane’s team-mate Lewandowski (15) and Ajax’s Sebastien Haller (13) have had more goal involvements in the current campaign.
“We’ll rotate a bit, but not too much. We’re used to this Saturday-Wednesday rhythm. We’ll rotate a little more against Augsburg [in the Bundesliga on Saturday],” Nagelsmann said.
One player who will not be involved is Corentin Tolisso, who will be hoping he has not played his last game for Bayern after suffering a torn thigh muscle in the weekend Bundesliga win over Freiburg.
Tolisso is out of contract at the end of the season and Bayern reportedly decided earlier this season not to renew his deal.
“I actually thought that Coco had a stomach problem,” Nagelsmann said. “I only found out after the game in Freiburg that he had a torn ligament. It’s not an easy situation for him. He’s in France now to get his mind off things a bit.”
Nagelsmann believes Bayern have what it takes to get past Unai Emery’s Villarreal, who stunned Juventus in the previous round.
Bayern are unbeaten in their last five games when playing away from home in the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie (W3 D2), although their last such defeat came in Spain in the 2015-16 semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
Emery will be taking charge of his 50th game in the Champions League (W21 D10 L18), and it will be his first quarter-final tie.
The Bayern coach said of Villarreal: “It’s a very experienced team. They have a coach who is especially experienced internationally [in club games].
“They play different formations, you have to adapt to different situations. It’s a team that opens up with risk. It’s an experienced team of players, who have already experienced something and which has to be cracked first. However, I am confident that we will prevail.”
